Tharsis

Tharsis can never stop reminding you that you don't have control over its interstellar disaster, just the illusion of it. Every time I watched my ship fall apart, and every time I watched new events propagate across the ship that were completely impossible to stop, I felt like, win-or-lose, Tharsis was having all the fun.

Earth's first Mars mission should have been 300 days to glory. But Mike only made it to 170, and we lost Erin after 105. Earth's first Mars mission should have been 300 days to glory. But Mike only made it to 170, and we lost Erin after 105. Turns out,...

A Roll of the Dice Dice have a big role in video games. Most of the time the rolls go unseen, happening behind the scenes, inside the games coding. In Tharsis, the dice rolls play a huge part, and they are not hidden at all. The dice will be rolled...

Tharsis is well made, but not well designed—an attractive, interesting board game idea, but only the first draft.

The brutal difficulty is not offset with a noticeable feeling of player development and the lack of any kind of variation in gameplay and progression only heightens what ends up feeling a fairly dull experience. While ultimately not a disaster; Tharsis compares to getting to the final round and failing due to a slight miscalculation.